Ruby Walsh goes for a National hat-trick

Forty horses go under starter's orders at Aintree for the Grand National on Saturday. Will jockey Ruby Walsh become the first man for more than 30 years to record a hat-trick of Aintree titles, or can Tony McCoy, the most prolific jump jockey of all time, finally break his duck?
 
Irishman Walsh was only a 20-year-old debutant when he won horse racing's biggest challenge on Papillon, a mount trained by his father, a former amateur champion, in 2000. Then in the 2005 race, a loose horse swerved in front of the favourite, Clan Royal, as it approached the infamous Becher's Brook fence in the lead, leaving Walsh's Hedgehunter to romp home by a dozen lengths. In his eight National rides, Walsh has finished among the places on three other occasions and only once failed to complete the grueling course.
 
His participation in this year's race was briefly in doubt when, last November, he had to have his spleen removed in an emergency operation after a horrific fall at Cheltenham. But, only 27 days later, he was back in the saddle. And now, having eventually decided to ride nine-year-old My Will, Walsh has been installed by bookmakers as the clear 8-1 favourite.
 
McCoy, the first jump jockey to ride 3,000 winners, has yet to win the one that really matters. He has chosen to ride on JP McManus-owned Butler’s Cabin, the horse he fell off at Becher's last year, and despite his record – he has only three third-place finishes to show from 13 attempts – bookmakers are expecting to take a whopping £10 million on him to win.
 
As a Labrokes spokesman said: "The parallels we draw are Jimmy White trying to win the Snooker World Championship, Colin Montgomerie in golf majors and Tim Henman's past Wimbledon bids… It’s an odd punters' psychology." ·